


Inheritance

by Signamino



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-10-01 18:18:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20363392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Signamino/pseuds/Signamino
Summary: The first colour he ever knew was blue.It was his favourite colour.It was the colour of his mother's skin.





	Inheritance

_ The first colour he ever knew was blue._  
_ was his favourite colour._  
_Blue stood for safety, love and warmth._  
_ It was the colour of his mother's skin._  
_ The second colour he ever knew was red._  
_ Thecolour red meant that he was being watched over and guarded._  
_ It was the colour of his mother's eyes._  
_He loved the colours blue and red. _

Odin had lost track of the time. The past days (weeks?) had all blurred together and right now he didn't even know if it was evening or early morning. Acute pain coursed through his skull. The adrenaline from battle had left him and now he couldn't ignore the feeling of emptiness on his right side. His soldiers were already celebrating their victory, but there was still one last thing he had to do.

He pushed his way through soldiers who were too busy with celebrating to notice their king. Those that did patted him on the shoulder and congratulated him to his victory. There was no need for formalities tonight. As soon as they returned to Asgard, he would be their king once more but for now they were just fellow soldiers.  
It took him nearly an hour to track down Tyr. Multiple times he had thought of just abandoning the thought of speaking with him, but his common sense reminded him that he couldn't do that. When he finally found him, he was sitting in front of a tent with the other generals. They had made a makeshift table out of a weapons chest and were already drunk. As far as Odin knew, they hadn't taken any mead with them. They had probably raided the healers' supplies. 

"Odin!" Tyr bellowed upon spotting him. "Come and join us! There is always space at our table!"  
The others howled their agreement.  
"General Tyr." Odin replied. "May I speak with you?"

Tyr sobered instantly and got to his feet.  
"I fear celebrating will have to wait a little longer, boys. See you later."

Without another word Odin turned around, leading them to a more secluded spot. Without the men surrounding them, the wind and snow hit them full-force as if the realm itself had not yet surrendered.

"My king" Tyr said with a slight bow. "Have any problems arisen? Are the Frost Giants still resisting? Just tell me how many men you need and I will make sure that they are ready for battle in five minu-"

"Tyr, calm down. Everything is fine. The Jötnar aren't happy but they are following our orders."

The commander of the army visibly relaxed, his rigid posture disappearing. 

"Then what is it, Odin? Don't tell me just wanted to keep me away from the celebrations!"

"We won't be staying for much longer anyway. You can celebrate in Asgard." He shook his head. "No, I wanted to talk to you about the Casket."

"So Laufey has agreed to us taking it?"

"He has not. But he knows that it wouldn't make a difference. It is far too powerful to be left in their hands."

Tyr nodded grimly. 

"How many men do you want to take with you? You know that you can count on me."

"Actually… I think it would be best if I went alone."

"**What?! ** Odin, have you gone insane?" Tyr cried. 

"It is much safer this way, Tyr. The Casket is hidden inside Ymir's temple. It will be bad enough for them if one Aesir steps inside. I don't want any further fights to break out."

"But what if it’s a trap? If you are ambushed-"

"The temple isn't far from here. You are in charge until I get back. If I don't return within the next hour, come and look for me."

When Tyr opened his mouth to argue again, Odin added: "This is an order from your king."

With that, Tyr finally gave up and bid him good luck before he turned back to camp. 

Odin, now on his own, made his way northward. In the last few days they had moved their camp multiple times until they were only a short distance away from Utgard. And, according to the maps, Ymir's temple was just a bit to the east from the capital.  
Even though he wore thick furs both over and under his armour, the cold still seemed to seep into his bones. By the time he arrived at the temple he was shivering. 

The cold wind burned in his empty eye socket and he was grateful for the protection the temple walls granted him. The inside of the temple was dark and cast in shadows. There were candles and torches but it was clear that no one had bothered to light them. He was actually surprised at the lack of guards. Laufey had surrendered but still he had expected an ambush, a last resort to win. But there was nothing here. The temple was completely abandoned. Did they take the casket with them and hidden it away somewhere? Hopefully not. He couldn't leave until the casket was in save hands.  
The sound of his footsteps echoed down the corridor, even though he stepped as lightly as he could. He didn't want to cause any more damage than had already been done. He journeyed deeper into the temple and still no sign of the casket. The hallway ended in a great hall with a pedestal in the middle of it, presumably for offerings. Even from a small distance he could tell that it was too small for the casket and moved on. His left foot hit a bit of debris on the floor and it scattered through the hall with a loud clang every time it hit the floor.  
A cry erupted from the pedestal and Odin gave a start. Was that a baby on the pedestal? It sounded like one. He walked closer, carefully watching the doorway for any trap. Yes, there really was a jotunn baby on the pedestal. What was it doing here? The temple was abandoned; so where was its mother?  
He took a closer look at the babe, especially its clan markings. He didn’t recognize the ones on its forehead, which were usually inherited from the mother. But the ones on its cheeks looked familiar. His own mother had had similar ones and not even a while ago he had fought someone with the exact same: Laufey. Apparently this was Jötunheim's heir. But why was he here? Shouldn't he be safe with his mother, as Thor was with Frigga right now? He looked closer for any reasons to leave a baby out in the cold, but beside its small size the baby seemed completely healthy. It was still crying and Odin picked it up in an attempt to calm it. It was the size of an Aesir baby maybe even smaller. He knew that Thor had been bigger than this.  
He nearly dropped the babe in surprise when its skin colour started to change, shifting from the Jotunn blue to an Aesir pink. Not merely an illusion but a true transformation. It smiled at him and Odin couldn't help but smile back. He should probably give the baby to the next Jotun he saw but… He and Frigga had wanted another child for a while now but the queen was seemingly unable to get pregnant. And the child reminded him of a different Jotun he had known a very long time ago, before their races were enemies. Was this a sign? He took one last look around before he carefully hid the babe under the furs covering his armour. 

_ "Mama? What are you doing over there?"_  
_, the queen started and turned around. There stood her son, standing on his toes to try and look out the window. Chuckling, she picked him up and turned to face the window again._  
_He turned his head this way and that, but couldn't see anything special here. Why was his mother always looking at the same spot? _

_"What's out there, Mama?" he asked, voice full of childish curiosity._  
_"Just someplace that is very special to me, dear."_  
_He sat there in silence for a while, trying to think of such a place. But, like most children, he was distracted by needing to ask another question._  
_"The other kids said that you're not from here, Mama. They say you're from somewhere called Jot-Joton-"_  
_"Jötunheim?"_  
_"Yes! But, then why are you here?"_  
_"I will tell you another time."_  
_"What was it like in Jot-Jötunheim? The others say that it's a terrible place."_  
_"Oh no, that's not true at all. They just don't understand."_  
_"Well, then tell me!"_  
_Smiling the queen began to speak, her eyes fixed steadily on the same spot in the distance._  
_"Well, wherever you look you always see snow. Even in summer. But we don't mind. We only get cold during the winter days. There are many mountains and when you look down from one, you see the entire valley. The air is filled with the scent of pine needles."_  
_He closed his eyes, trying to imagine this foreign world._  
_"If you are really quiet, you hear the sound of the wind as it passes through the trees; smell the fresh snow as it falls down and sometimes you even see a hare running through the snow or see a tern flying by."_  
_ he wouldn't have been so absorbed in his fantasies, he might have noticed how his mother's eyes had started to fill with tears and how her hands had begun to shake._

Today's lesson was planned to be about Yggdrasil and its realms. Initially, the boys' usual tutor was supposed to handle the lesson but Frigga had suggested that he, as father and king, should tell his sons about their relationship with the different worlds.

"After all," she had said. "The king should know better than a simple tutor."

He would never admit it to her but he actually had no idea how to explain the different realms and their importance to two small children. He had thought about reading out the chapter of a book, but quickly discarded the idea after spotting several inaccuracies. He should remember to mention it later.

"Well, our realm is called Asgard." he began. "It is the home of the Aesir."

"We know that, father." Thor said. The three of them were in the boys study with Thor sitting on a comfortable spot of the carpet and Loki sitting in one the large chairs.

"Right, well, your mother was born on Vanaheim, one of our neighbouring realms. The people living there are called Vanir and are well known for their talent with seidr."

"We know that too, father." Loki interrupted from his chair. 

"Vanaheim and Asgard have been allies for a very long time. We often work together when-"

"We know-"

"Well, what do you not know?" Odin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"About the other realms!" Thor cried. "The ones our tutor doesn’t talk about! I want to know how to get to Helheim!"

"You can't go to Helheim!" Loki replied. "Only the dead can."

"Well, I'm sure father knows how I can go anyway! I want to see Garm!"

"Even I don't know the way to Helheim, Thor." He cut in before another dispute started. They had started happening very often lately. "And don't forget that you cannot leave once you enter."

"Told you so."

"There are still other realms you could visit, Thor. Like Alfheim, the home of the Light Elves."

"What about Midgard?" Loki asked. "He didn't tell us very much about it."

"We can visit via the Bifrost but we have only done so a couple of times. Their technology isn’t very advanced and we usually don't interact with them."

"Oddvar told us they don't have seidr either." Thor said. "Is that true?"

"Yes, as far as we know there is no magic on Midgard." Odin replied which elicited a horrified gasp from Loki.

"How terrible!"

"What about the realm of monsters, father? What about Jötunheim?"

"You know we don't like it when you call them that, Thor. They are called Jötnar."

"Fine, Jötnar then. But what is it like?"

"I have only been to Jötunheim during the war; we have been enemies for a long time. But when my father was king we were still allies. Back then Jötunheim was as important as Vanaheim."

"So what happened?" Loki asked.

"I don't know; I wasn't born then. Something must have happened during my parents' reign. We will have to trust the history books."

_ His mother's favourite season was winter. He didn’t know this just because he had made sure to ask her but because she loved to go outside when it snowed. She never went outside when it was summer and hot outside. He could plea and beg as much as he wanted but all he ever got was a sad smile and a shake of the head._  
_Not during winter._  
_In winter she would go outside in a dress and play in the snow with him for hours. Once he got tired of playing she would take a walk with his father through the garden._  
_And at the end of the day they would all sit and laugh together._

_He hadn’t decided yet, but winter might be his favourite season too. _

"Odin, look at them." Frigga called from the window. She wore a coat over her dress, since the room was still cold even with the fire burning in the furnace.  
He slowly got up from behind his desk, careful not to tip anything over and made his way over to the window. There was a balcony as well but they didn't want any more cold air in their chambers right now.  
From here he could look into the garden and spotted Thor playing in the snow. He looked like he was looking for someone.

"Where's Loki?" He asked his wife, seeing his second son nowhere. 

"You'll see." She chuckled.

So he continued to watch as Thor walked across the garden, looking in every direction and calling for his brother. Frigga had to stifle a laugh as she watched him nearly slip on a patch of ice.  
Finally Thor sat down at the foot of a fir whose branches were heavy with snow. As soon as he had sat down to rest the branches above him began to shake and Thor tried to shield his face as the snow rained down on him. A few seconds later Loki fell out of the tree and landed on Thor, the two of them rolling through the snow.

In the end Thor managed to pin Loki to the floor and paid him back with a faceful of snow.

"We should go outside and play with them." Frigga said and turned to him.

"Frigga, you're already cold do you really want to go outside? Just stay inside."

"Oh it's not that bad, I'll get warm once I start to move a little. You hardly spend time with them! It'll be good for you!"

"I have to finish my work first."

"Fine, but try to hurry. I and the boys will be waiting outside."

With that she got dressed and left him alone in their chambers.

_ He liked summer too. During summer he could play outside with his friends without getting sick or cold. But his parents didn't like summer._

_Whenever it would start to get hot outside they would whisper amongst each other in the evening and Father would ask Mother how she was feeling. His mother would reply that she was fine but she sounded so tired._

_Mother often got sick in summer. She would get tired much faster and didn't want to eat. Father would order the servants to keep the windows closed and Mother's room dark._

_Today it was very hot outside, even more than usual. His mother was walking down the hall with him when she suddenly stopped and held her head before she stumbled and fell to the floor. The guards immediately surrounded them, trying to speak to his mother._

_He wanted to stay but was led away and brought to his father. He was asked to tell him what happened and did as he was told._

_"What's wrong with Mama?" He asked._

_His father paused before replying: "I don't know, Odin. It's probably the heat again. Let's hope she gets better soon." _

Odin and Frigga made sure to watch Loki very carefully during summer. He had shapeshifted into a true Aesir all these years ago, which should protect him from Asgard's heat but they had decided to still be careful. They had told Eir about his true heritage so that she knew how to treat him. They made sure that Loki's rooms were in the colder part of the palace. 

So they also made sure that someone kept an eye on Loki during the day Asgard reached its highest temperature yet. 

He was holding court as the messenger arrived, telling him that the queen had requested for him in the Healing Wing. With a lump in his throat he dismissed court and then continued on to the Healing Wing.

Frigga and Thor were waiting outside the doors, waiting for him. He could already guess what had happened. 

Frigga gave Thor a nudge. "Just tell him what you told me."

Thor shuffled with his feet, looking down at the ground before him.  
"Me and Loki were outside playing. He complained that he was having a headache and wanted to go back inside but I didn't let him. Then he started to get dizzy and couldn't walk anymore. I had to go and get a guard who could carry him back."

"And are you sorry?"

"Yes, Mama."

"And who will you tell that later?"

"Loki."

"And when Loki wants to go back next time, what will you do?"

"I'll let him go back inside."

"Now go to your room, we will send for you should Loki wake."

Thor nodded and, head held low, he trudged back to his rooms. Odin turned to his wife.

"Has Eir told you anything?"

"Not much. She said Loki got sick shortly after arriving here."

Eir came back later to tell them that Loki would have to spend the night in the Healing Wing. He had a slight fever and still suffered from headaches and dizziness.  
They didn't want to worry Thor too much, so they just told him that Loki would feel better in the morning. The king and queen themselves weren't too sure about that and neither of them slept soundly that night.

Eir greeted them with a smile the next day and the tension went away.

"It was just a sunstroke. Not exactly healthy and dangerous for a child his age but he will recover. He just needs a bit of rest. If possible away from the sun."

_ Odin's mother died when he was still very young._

_She never recovered from her collapse in the hall that day.  
She spend another two days in bed before passing away in her sleep._

_King Borr blamed himself for the death of his wife and destroyed every painting of her and erased her from the history books._

_Odin didn't remember much about his mother. As the years passed, the picture of her in his mind began to blur before finally disappearing. He could only recall short glimpses of the time his family was still whole. _


End file.
